3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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Edges of influence: overcoming urban isolation in Hillbrow
(2020) Okyere-Dede, Nqobile
Hillbrow was first developed as a residential neighbourhood consisting of detached houses. It then saw a surge in development during the 1950’s with the removal of height restrictions and the advancement of new building technology – this enabled the development of high rise buildings. The neighbourhood was predominantly occupied by European white middle class tenants, with a few black people who worked as servants and security guards living on the rooftops of the apartments. In the mid 1970’s the neighbourhood started seeing racial transformation due to the combination of economic decline, political uncertainty and the withdrawal of the initial white occupants to the northern regions of Johannesburg. The city experienced rapid social change, many of its buildings were left abandoned and the city council at the time was averse to dealing with the changing social circumstance. This resulted in large scale overcrowding, lack of service delivery and lack of law enforcement - prompting urban decline in the neighbourhood. In contrast, the social change that occurred simultaneously resulted in a vibrant, energetic melting pot of diverse cultures. Today Hillbrow is a well-known neighbourhood grappling with a number of social ills such as crime, drug abuse and prostitution; and is considered by most as a home to dubious members of society. This has led to the neighbourhood being perceived as “bad,” which has caused many to shun the neighbourhood. This research aims to firstly unpack the historical context of the development of Hillbrow in order to understand its current complexities and their origin. Secondly, the research aims to explore the causes of urban isolation in Hillbrow by investigating the barriers of connectivity along its edges. The key concepts that will inform this research will be linkages and connectivity, densification, recoding land uses, redistributing traffic flows and place making. My hypothesis is that spatial integration can be achieved by creating better linkages. My research assumes that improving linkages between the edges of Hillbrow and its surrounding areas would encourage increased mobility of people moving in and out of the neighbourhood, thereby fostering a vibrant, active edge with a greater sense of safety. It will also look at creating good quality public spaces by taking advantage of underutilised spaces such as the alleyways, as well as reconfiguring internal uses. The research will apply a qualitative research method, with the primary research strategy being a case study. Data will be collected through observation of public behaviour and photography
Space, agency and informality :a case study of Musina's food vendors and foreign currency dealers
(2019) Muzanenhamo, Chido
As a more useful alternative to urban theories that originate from the North, the idea of African urbanism has been found to be more instrumental in investigating the day to day experiences of those who inhabit the African continent’s urban areas. While it has been well established that Africa’s metropoles are dominated by the presence of both an economics and a politics of the subaltern, very little is currently known about these processes in an African border town. This research report seeks to examine the role of the economics of urban marginality - by focusing on the informal economic practices of foreign currency traders and food vendors – in the production and transformation of urban place and space in Musina, a border town in South Africa. In addition, the research explores the spatial politics of Musina’s informal economic trade by emphasizing how the state, practices of governmentality and cultural politics intersect. Drawing on data from twelve semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this research report argues that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between the state and those marginalised by Musina’s urban economy, as reflected in the manner in which private and publicly owned space is produced and transformed. The urban physical space is closely associated with the generation of informal income, and this is expressed in Musina’s political economy in ways that enable individuals to embody space prior to its production. The report also argues that subaltern economics provide an opportunity to reimagine the spatial beyond the local. Finally, this study considers how identity is associated with specific spaces and the impact this has on how the spatial is conceived, used and claimed by street traders.
Afrofuturist to bantutopian cities: towards an aesthetics of sustainable African cities
(2019) Mlati, Michelle Nhlamulo
In my thesis I explore the aesthetics of sustainable African cities through the lens of Afrofuturism as an inclusive design approach. It explores this through studio-based research in site specific contexts of Joburg, Dunusa (which means to bend over in Zulu) to cocreate an embodied culture of sustainability using solar power as central technology of interest. Through various interventions such as guerilla gardening and performing as an informal solar ‘trader’ as an active participant of the city, I question sustainable city paradigms of ‘green’ and ‘smart’ cities that are exclusive to black inhabitants in the inner city of Joburg and spatially explore how they can be inclusive amongst the practices of urban African communities through interventions that suggest a new urban language. Though this critical spatial practice, these interventions manifest a relational aesthetics of sustainability namely Bantutopianism. Through Bantutopianism we challenge Afrofuturism’s inability to adequately deal with the praxis of utopianisms engaged with true lived black vernacular realities in urban space to decipher the relation between humans and non-humans alike. This is in the context of informal trading spaces in African cities such as Dunusa. It explores an ethics of relationality which seeks to embed an embodied consciousness to sustainability that advances a post anthropocentric view underpinned by the philosophy of Ubuntu. This leads to the production of art for renewable energy infrastructure wired towards climate change mitigation and adaptation with the endeavor to generate earthly-cosmological ontologies that guard our planetary futures. Where energy poverty persists, the right to the city becomes the right to the sun. This research through a visual essay and literary aesthetics illustrates the necessary artefacts and rituals of the future such as those provided by the solar futurhythmachine as a resourceful sustainable architectural tool for devising alternative energy utopias inspired and centered around black cultural life to understand an aesthetics of sustainable African cities.
PROMOTING URBAN SOCIAL INTEGRATION THROUGH URBAN DESIGN INTERVENTION IN CYRILDENE
(2019) Lu Ke, Ke Lu
This research proposal discusses urban structure, ethnic group segregation, space-making, crime prevention and, the use of urban design intervention to solve social and spatial issues and promote sustainable and integrated urban communities in the Cyrildene area of Johannesburg. From the review I hope to understand the characteristics of homogeneous communities and the reasons that homogeneous communities isolate themselves, which, from the preservation of Ethnic Minorities' Culture’s angle, is to encourage the identification of the ethnicity’s unique characteristics. This research proposal also explores the relationship between space and neighbourhoods, and the value of the convivial space, as well as arguing that economic gain should not be used to determine social policies. The urban landscape space has multiple benefits, it can help to reduce particular types of crime, improve public health, as well as reconnect the urban environment with the eco-system. From reviewing the traditional Chinese urban planning and design history, there are some traditional Chinese urban planning and design principles that could be utilised in today’s cities, and these principles could help to build up urban communities and emphasise the unique culture of the Chinese community. This research proposal analyses, through urban design, the current issues in the Cyrildene area. Urban design could be used as an instrumental tool to solve these urban design-related problems, and at the same time promote the urban communities. Properly designed urban open spaces can help to improve local social relations and job opportunities for the surrounding neighbourhoods. This research proposal develops an example for the ethnic group to show their unique identity through urban design in the environment and at the same time increase tolerance between ethnic groups to promote social integration. From reviewing the literature, restructuring the existing urban structure can improve social and spatial issues as well as build up the neighbourhoods. Furthermore, a high level of local community engagement can lead to the progression of social integration. Social integration, while at the same time strengthening an internal sense of community, is the goal for these urban communities. This research proposal attempts to discover the constraints and opportunities based on the urban design analysis result to generate an urban design concept framework and urban development code.
Insertion: the revitalizationof a small town through the introduction of a new landuse
(2018) Mnyaka, Anele
The formation of small towns in South Africa was a result of the spread of colonialism. Indeed, these towns were conceived for a minority of settlers and set up in the image of British or English towns. Their logic has always been that they would be service towns and most of them have remained as such servicing the rural hinterland. The advent of democracy has allowed for fluid migration patterns creating linkages between urban and rural areas opening these towns to a new demographic. The prompt for endeavoring in such research stems from personal experience and noticing how small towns in the Eastern Cape are deteriorating and losing their strength as service centers which offer jobs, facilities, amenities and focal points from which developments spread to the greater region. The purpose of this research is to conceive a strategy to revitalize the town of Port St Johns by capitalizing on the intense flow of people, goods, capital (both public and private), services and information taking place between urban and rural areas (Ministry of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, 2014). The town of Port St Johns finds itself in the periphery of the Eastern Cape Province as an ‘end of the road’ town. It services over 130 villages most of which are rife with poverty. Its main economic drivers are the tourism and farming sector with tourism being more dominant. As a result of this, it experiences huge population influxes at different periods of the year from people coming in to buy groceries at the end of the month to holiday makers filling up the town and its beaches during the end-of-the-year holiday period. This presents an opportunity to capitalize on these fluctuations but they are often met with poor infrastructure, particularly that of education and accommodation. Although the tourism sector is the major economy of the town it is undeniably stagnant, a situation further exacerbated by weak partnerships between local government and non-governmental institutions. Efforts to revitalize the town must then begin at the regional scale by linking strategic and sectoral initiatives between functional geographic areas (Port St Johns Master Plan). Value chains must be developed between various economic sectors. Research on the demographic makeup of the area shows it to have a large young and unskilled population. Up-skilling the large youth resource initially in the sectors that are strongest in the region must be rigorous. An institution of higher learning dedicated to farming, tourism and hospitality could help aid this as it would anchor the population throughout the year and residences developed could then be used to accommodate holiday makers during the holiday period when a majority of tourists visit the area
Developing in dialogue : expanding the Johannesburg City edge through urban villages and densification models.
(2018) Van Onselen, Arjen
There is a quint area at the Greater Eastern Johannesburg city edge (GEJCE), which has a certain character with unique historical significance. Along the Albertina Sisulu and Jules Streets there remains a place which was once considered to be one of the wealthier suburbs of the city. Although poorly maintained with subsequent deterioration of the areas, there remains a historical value and a certain beauty (albeit odd) in the surrounding architecture. These areas include Jeppestown, the main focus of this study, with its’ surrounding suburbs of Bertrams, Lorentzville, Bezuidenhout Valley and Judith’s Paarl.(1) The neglect and deterioration of neighborhoods designed and built in the 1900s, led to these incongruous picturesque suburbs but with definite heritage design obstacles. The residential area is comprised mostly of single story housing and is characteristically identified by its classic veranda design, close proximity to the street and brick construction. The abundance of trees contributes to the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood making it visible along the large vistas and thus adding to the feeling of a promenade. Brodie, N attributed the threat of the cities’ peripheral urban fine-grained communities being demolished or alternated without proper supervision, to the proximity of the inner-city slums. This has followed in utter deterioration of picturesque residential heritage. This research report counters the threat by using an all-inclusive regeneration approach to create a neighborhood that is attractive, safe, accessible and well connected to the surrounding residential city. The purpose of the intervention will be to create different developmental models that maintain and enhance the current urban character through creating design guidelines, as well as to reintroduce a sustainable neighborhood feeding back into the Greater Johannesburg City. To drive this type of intervention, six elements will be explored and implemented. These elements were extracted from the 1992 Urban Village Forum.(2) Element 1: Neighborhood size: small and compact in form. Element 2: Promotion of mixed use: Residential spaces, work, retail and leisure. Element 3: Promotion of self-sufficiency. Element 4: Provision for the different social and economic groups. Element 5: A well-integrated public transport system and pedestrian friendly environment. Element 6: An effective urban management system Combining these elements with adaptive reuse is the solution for sustainable development in this area. Objectives ◉ Analyze and criticize the existing urban fabric in the GEJCE. ◉ Create and propose an Integrated Trans-Orientated Development Framework (ITDF) to connect a series of urban villages within the GEJCE context, as per the city's vision of a polycentric city.(3) ◉ Cultivate a range of development models that can be implemented within the district either through individual owners or larger development companies. “The concept of urban villages is important to consider within the South African context, as it deals with two relevant post-apartheid issues, integration and sustainable development of fragmented communities” (4) By creating these urban villages, we can start to bind these fragmented communities together.
Investigating the experiences of workers in exclusionary communities: a case study of waterfall estate
(2018) Ajibade, Abraham
Researchers, in the past, have found that the development of satellite cities has reduced the strain upon the infrastructure of the parent cities. These developments have had negative side effects as well, with urban sprawl proving to not only be an infrastructural challenge, but an environmental problem as well. One of the major critiques that has been levelled against urban sprawl is that it contributes towards pollution by encouraging long commutes and traffic congestion. These negative effects have been factored into the decision-making processes of residents in these areas, as they usually own at least one car that allows them to commute freely between their homes and the metropolitan centre. However, their lifestyle changes also affect another demographic, namely the workers who service these areas. The impact that the distance from the metropolitan area has on their physical, emotional and economic wellbeing has yet to be fully understood. Therefore, the purpose of the research report was to investigate and unpack the experiences and working conditions of domestic workers in Waterfall Estate. This included a representation of the sociological profile of the domestic workers in terms of their class, gender and employment history as well as an understanding of the different ways that the workers access and utilize the same space. The report also shed some light on their experiences, working conditions, relationship with employers and responses to the challenges faced by these individuals, contributing towards contemporary literature regarding the evolution of domestic service in exclusionary communities. The effects of commuting from the periphery to the city affect all who dwell within Exclusionary Upscale Communities, both upper class residents and workers alike. In addition to the socio-economic impact, power dynamics between the employers and workers provide an additional layer of complexity to the workers experiences. The research utilized both qualitative interviews with 5 workers, as well as the distribution of 31 surveys to workers in the area to not only gain a deeper understanding of the forces at play but also to get a sense of what the collective worker experience was. It was found that the domestic workers were heavily reliant on transit nodes such as taxi ranks in order to commute to the estate. In addition to this most of the domestic workers were found to be paying the cost of diverted care resulting in strenuous relationships with their families, resulting in cases where other family members had to care for their children and a negative outlook on the profession and their fulfillment of their roles as mothers.
Mitigation of displacement through rent control policy
(2018) Tyekela, Yelanda Nontyatyambo
The focus of the study was to explore the use of rent control to mitigate displacement in the Johannesburg inner city which forms part of Region 8 and consists of the Central Business District, commonly called Johannesburg CBD. Johannesburg's Central Business District (CBD) was in a state of decay and in an attempt to rehabilitate it the City of Joburg implemented urban regeneration. The efforts have however, have resulted in the displacement of low income residents. The rejuvenation of the residential buildings attracted the middle and upper income population into the inner city and landlords responded to their influx by increasing their rents. The low income residents who have been residing in the inner city are as such no longer able to afford the rent and thus forcing them to find accommodation elsewhere. The research asked the following question: Can rent control be used as a method to reduce the displacement of low income residents in the Johannesburg CBD? Establishing whether rent control can be used as a means to mitigate displacement in the inner city is imperative and the research sought to uncover factors that would encourage property investors and developers in the Johannesburg CBD to adopt rent control. Understanding how rent control could be used to mitigate the challenges of displacement caused by urban regeneration in the Johannesburg inner city becomes fundamental. This helps to assist in finding a balance in the dynamic nature of gentrification and displacement in the City of Joburg and the enforcement of rent control to protect the low income residents. This research was conducted using the quantitative approach to explore rent control as one of the methods used to minimize displacement and the marginalization of residents as a result of gentrification and rehabilitation of the inner city from data gathered. The sample groups were 60 property investors and developers from the Johannesburg CBD. Data was collected through the use of closed-ended questions with multiple choice answer options and these were explored using quantitative methods. The results indicate that the monitoring and lowering of expenses associated with rates and taxes could influence the adoption of rent control. The data further revealed that the relaxation of tax could be another motivating factor for the adoption of the implementation of rent control. Investors and policy makers should therefore strive for development that is affordable and equitable and for all parties. The data further revealed the potential of rent control as a means of mitigating displacement in the Johannesburg CBD. It is the researcher’s hope that recommendations made by this study, if implemented will improve the dynamic nature of gentrification and displacement.
Livelihoods and the transformative potential of the city of Rustenburg
(2016-04-05) Mosiane, Ngakaemang Benjamin
Cities are characterised by a contradictory dynamic of opportunities for and the suppression of the livelihoods of the poor. At the turn of the twentieth century, well into the first half of that century, Rustenburg was defined by a broad-based participation in the local economy. Although black people’s involvement in that economy was marked by the relation of dependency to the dominant, white social formations, they both managed their relationship with the city and contributed to its vibrancy. Today, the same is true for livelihood activities in this city. However, from the mid-1990s (as it was the case from the 1940s until the official end of apartheid) various forces are delivering Rustenburg into an elite space of formal cultural practices. With that said, such exercises of power are not generalisable to the whole city. Thus, the way various sites of the city are constituted and valorised affect whether or not ordinary people can build livelihoods and pursue other goals in and through such sites. Overall, the redevelopment practices in Rustenburg bring into focus the tensions of city life – urban residents and the city space are agents of social reproduction on the one hand and are resources for creating emancipatory spaces on the other. In this sense, living and making a living in the city involves mediating such tensions – although the new spaces produced by the body and the dream often cohere into real material landscape that shapes everyday practices and social identities, the sensual, rationality, history, and the landscape provide resources for continual exploration and reproduction of new spaces of emancipation from poverty and domination.
The adaptive capacity of households in informal settlements in relation to climate change: two cases from Johannesburg
(2016) Nenweli, Mpho Morgan Raymond
Climate change poses serious challenges to households in informal settlements located in marginal areas such as flood plains that are sensitive to extreme weather events. This thesis explores the complex interrelationship between climate variability and informal settlements using two city-level case studies in Johannesburg, viz., Msawawa and Freedom Charter Square. The main objective of this study was to establish the nature of household adaptive capacity in informal settlements in relation to climate change. This entailed assessing household vulnerability to the increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as strong winds, extreme cold, extreme heat, floods, drought and fire, as a basis from which to understand household adaptive capacity. Methodologically, the thesis applied a mixed method approach combining quantitative and qualitative instruments to explore household adaptive capacity in relation to climate change. This methodology was used to understand how households have coped and adapted to extreme weather events in the past. Secondary research involved analysing a range of published and unpublished documents, while the primary research component consisted of a survey of two hundred households across the two settlements as well as key-informant interviews with local leaders in the two informal settlements and relevant officials from the City of Johannesburg. The results of this study show that in Msawawa and Freedom Charter Square, households’ social and economic conditions such as those relating to employment, income, assets and health play a role in their vulnerability to climate change. The ability of households to improve their adaptive capacity is influenced by a range of factors that include access to physical capital, social capital, financial resources and governance. The research found that households in the two informal settlements rely mainly on coping mechanisms such as repairing their shacks after disasters related to extreme weather. They have very limited ability to address underlying causes of vulnerability such as weak dwellings. Social capital is one of the drivers, although not very significant, for coping and critical to efforts for improving household adaptive capacity. The study also found that governance is a contested terrain in which it is difficult to recognise a positive impact on household adaptation to climate change. The study highlights the importance for policy-makers to recognise the need to improve household socio-economic conditions as well as building relationships of trust as drivers that could help in improving adaptive capacity and addressing household vulnerability to climate change.

3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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